Farm to School Programs
Countrywide, schools are beginning to incorporate access to more locally grown foods in their cafeterias. Schools have also begun to provide educational programs, classes, and activities that focus on food, farming, and nutrition. Gardening, farm visits and culinary classes are all beginning to be more abundant in education's curriculums. These programs are one of many efforts attempting to improve the nutritional options of cafeteria food available to students as well supply them with knowledge on healthy lifestyles and connections to local urban agriculture. The interaction between schools and local food also provides economic opportunities for the local producers and distributers themselves. Local farmers, ranchers, and fishermen are capable of providing schools with an array of food items like fresh fruit and veggies, wheat, rice, turkey, dairy products and many more2. The percentage of children overweight is close to epidemic levels across the U.S. Advocates of farm-to-school programs as well as health care professionals profess the potential that using these programs could have on providing healthy diets to children 3. CIAS University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems is named as a lead agency in a six-state area for a new national program to encourage schools to serve more locally grown food. This will be the hub in the Great Lakes region, including Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Indiana, for farm-to-school activities. This national network is supported by a three-year, $2.4 million grant from W.K. Kellogg Foundation 1. National Programs 1. Community Food Security Coalition (CFSC) – has more than 250 member organizations. Activities by this program include farmer’s markets, farm-to-school projects, and community gardens. 2. National Farm to School Program – partnership with several educational institutions as well as CFSC, and the Community Alliance with Family Farmers and the Center for Food & Justice. Mainly funded by the USDA, has helped to create school projects to purchase from local farmers, as well as evaluating existing and potential projects. Iowa Programs 1. Sunflower Fields Farm and CSA – distributes food to schools and other institutions. 2. Practical Farmers of Iowa – primary buyers include Iowa State University and Grinnel College. http://www.pfi.iastate.edu 3. University of Northern Iowa Local Food Project – works with institutional food buyers including hospitals, restaurants, groveries etc. to explore ways of purchasing a larger proportion of locally grown food; funded by the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture. http://www.uni.edu/ceee/foodproject Minnesota Programs 1. Saint Olaf College – students from both St. Olaf and Carlton College examined the origins of campus food (1989-1991) and influenced dining services to begin to incrorporate local food. All produce purchases fell through, except for apple supply, because local growers were either small or not willing to participate. Wisconsin Programs 1.University of Wisconsin, The College Food Project – six campuses purchase food for their dining services from local farms, four of which use organic and sustainable farming practices.http://www.wisc.edu/cias/index.html 2.Northland College – Purchase of locally grown organic produce for dining services http://www.northland.edu References 1 "Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems." Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems. College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2014. Web. . 2 "Farm To School." Food and Nutrition Service. United States Department of Agriculture, Web. . 3 Izumi, Betty, Katherine Alaimo, and Michael Hamm. "Farm-to-School Programs: Perspectives of School Food Service Professionals." Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior 42.2 (2010): 83-91. Science Direct. Web. .